Candy from strangers: KKK recruiting with sweets and white power

The Ku Klux Klan is recruiting in South Carolina, leaving bags of candy and anti-immigration literature in people’s driveways during the group’s ‘national night ride’, its triannual membership drive.

Residents in a Seneca subdivision, a town of just over 8,000 in
the northwest corner of the state, woke up Sunday morning to find
bags of candy labelled, “Save our land, join the Klan.” The flier
also included the number of the “Klan Hotline,”
WHNS reported.

The voicemail at the number listed with the candy says, "Be a
man join the Klan! Illegal immigration is destroying
America," discusses immigration concerns and ends with,
"always remember if it ain't white, it ain't right. White
power."

One woman and her family found the candy when they ran it over on
their way to church. She said it shocked her and made her angry.

"[I] talked to several neighbors. They were very angry, very
upset, very ashamed at the same time - that this exists,"
the woman, who did not wish to be identified, said to WHNS.
"Ashamed to face our neighbors that do not have the same
color skin that we do."

Robert Jones, the Imperial Klaliff (equivalent of vice president)
of the the Loyal White Knights chapter of the KKK, said the
literature drop was part of the national night ride, an overnight
recruitment event that happens three times a year. He said the
group does not target particular houses during the campaign.

"I mean, we can't tell who lives in a house, whether they're
black, white, Mexican, gay, we can't tell that," Jones said.
"And if you were to look at somebody's house like that, that
means you'd be pretty much a racist."

The Seneca woman noted the bags were on every driveway, including
those belonging to families of mixed-race marriages and
minorities. She said she and her neighbors feel like they are
being watched now.

According to Jones, the Loyal White Knights are receiving 20,000
phone calls a day to its hotline. The group has about 8,000
members, which is the typical size for a chapter. They are also
recruiting in Harnett County, North Carolina, WTVD reported.

"It's ridiculous that this is still going on... how somebody
or a group of somebodies could have that much hate in their heart
to recruit individuals," Lila, a Harnett County resident who
did not want her last name revealed, told the
ABC affiliate. "That trash isn't welcome here."

The Imperial Klaliff disputed the KKK’s hate group label, saying
it is a civil organization following the Bible. The group is
currently protesting illegal immigration.

“We’re wanting to see equal rights for whites. We’re getting
out into the streets and protesting because we’re feeling our
country’s being took away from us,” Jones said.

The chapter’s Imperial Wizard (or president) Chris Barker agreed.
"If they (blacks) would actually listen to what we're talking
about, it ain't about them anymore with the Klan. It's usually
about the immigrants who are flooding (the United States),”
he told WTVD.

Mark Potok, senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center,
told
The Tennessean that similar activities have occurred
throughout the country of late, with candy distribution in
Florida. Alabama, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia have also
seen recruitment drives in recent
months.

"It's always concerning to hear about these activities, but
this does not signal a resurgence in the Klan," Potok said

Recipients of the candy-and-literature drop should not be fearful
of the Klan unless they are doing something morally wrong, Jones
said.

The Seneca woman didn’t find comfort in his remarks. "You
shouldn't have to wake up and fear that somebody might burn a
cross in your yard or throw something like this out in your
driveway with nothing but hurt in their intention," she
said.

The group is planning a public protest in August in North
Carolina that will include a cross-burning, WHNS reported. And
Jones promises more recruitment with candy.